The Doors *** (1991, Val Kilmer, Meg Ryan, Kyle MacLachlan, Frank Whaley, Kevin Dillon) – Classic Movie Review 2093

Co-writer- director Oliver Stone’s 1991 homage to the iconic 1960-70s rock band The Doors also serves as a biopic of Jim Morrison, the group’s lead singer. It starts with a big asset in Val Kilmer, who is fired-up and hot stuff in his prime as the main man. He looks and sounds like him and did much of his own singing. Though the movie is a mixed bag of tricks, Kilmer’s deservedly acclaimed tour-de-force performance is one of his best roles.

The movie takes free liberties with its depiction of Morrison, so his band mates, friends and family objected to it. Though based mostly on real people and actual events, the screenplay freely dramatises the story and tries to go for a universal significance and general truths by showing Morrison as a larger-than-life icon of 1960s rock and roll, counterculture, and the drug-using free love hippie lifestyle.

The story takes us from Morrison’s days as a UCLA film student in LA to his untimely death in Paris at age 27 in 1971. The movie sets off really brightly with the road to success part of the story, but starts to become a bit of a drag half way through when Morrison’s alcoholism, interest in spirituality and hallucinogenic drugs, and his growing obsession with death start to become annoying and repetitive. Morrison’s shown as such an unappealing, anti-social character with a clear death wish that it’s quite hard to share Stone’s interest in caring about his fate. And anyway the story of Morrison’s death and its circumstances are familiar enough to obviate any element of surprise.

As other members of the band, Kyle MacLachlan as keyboardist Ray Manzarek, Frank Whaley as guitarist Robby Krieger, Kevin Dillon as John Densmore, all looking inderstandably decidedly uncomfortable in silly obvious wigs, don’t get much of a look-in either. And in this man’s world, Meg Ryan has a hard time making much of a strong impression as Morrison’s girlfriend/companion Pamela Courson or Kathleen Quinlan as Patricia Kennealy either.

Still, Stone captures the mood and atmosphere of the 60s spectacularly well, doing justice to this special era of freedom and foolish excess.

Also in the cast are Frank Whaley, Billy Idol, Dennis Burkley, Michael Madsen, Kathleen Quinlan, Mimi Rogers, Crispin Glover, Michael Wincott and Wes Studi.

By 1989, Carolco Pictures studio owners Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna had acquired the rights from the Doors and the Morrison estate to make a film and they wanted Stone to direct it. The Doors were happy with Stone as they had seen and were impressed by his movie Platoon. Stone first heard The Doors in 1967, when he was a 21-year-old soldier in Vietnam.

It cost a hefty $38million and earned back just $35million.

Ray Manzarek, whose keyboard playing was a central element to the sound of The Doors, died at the age of 74 on May 20 2013.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2093

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